After staying some days here, he set out for Antioch, which the king had lately left, and from thence waited upon him at Ephesus. The arrival of so renowned a general gave great pleasure to the [pg 254] king; and did not a little contribute to determine him to engage in war against Rome; for hitherto he had appeared wavering and uncertain on that head. In this city, a philosopher, who was looked upon as the greatest orator of Asia, had the imprudence to make a long harangue before Hannibal, on the duties of a general, and the rules of the art-military.[818] The speech charmed the whole audience. But Hannibal being asked his opinion of it, “I have seen,” says he, “many old dotards in my life, but this exceeds them all.”[819]
The Carthaginians, justly fearing that Hannibal's escape would certainly draw upon them the arms of the Romans, sent them advice that Hannibal was withdrawn to Antiochus.[820] The Romans were very much disturbed at this news; and the king might have turned it extremely to his advantage, had he known how to make a proper use of it.
The first advice that Hannibal gave him at this time, and which he frequently repeated afterwards, was, to make Italy the seat of the war.[821] He required an hundred ships, eleven or twelve thousand land forces, and offered to take upon himself the command of the fleet; to cross into Africa, in order to engage the Carthaginians in the war; and afterwards to make a descent upon Italy, during which the king himself should remain in Greece with his army, holding himself constantly in readiness to cross over into Italy, whenever it should be thought convenient. This was the only thing proper to be done, and the king very much approved the proposal at first.
Hannibal thought it would be expedient to prepare his friends at Carthage, in order to engage them the more strongly in his views.[822] The transmitting of information by letters, is not only unsafe, but they can give only an imperfect idea of things, [pg 255] and are never sufficiently particular. He therefore despatched a trusty person with ample instructions to Carthage. This man was scarce arrived in the city, but his business was suspected. Accordingly, he was watched and followed: and, at last, orders were issued for his being seized. However, he prevented the vigilance of his enemies, and escaped in the night; after having fixed, in several public places, papers, which fully declared the occasion of his journey. The senate immediately sent advice of this to the Romans.
A.M. 3813. A. Rom. 557.
Villius, one of the deputies who had been sent into Asia, to inquire into the state of affairs there, and, if possible, to discover the real designs of Antiochus, found Hannibal in Ephesus.[823] He had many conferences with him, paid him several visits, and speciously affected to show a particular esteem for him on all occasions. But his chief aim, by all this designing behaviour, was to make him be suspected, and to lessen his credit with the king, in which he succeeded but too well.[824]
Some authors affirm, that Scipio was joined in this embassy;[825] and they even relate the conversation which that general had with Hannibal. They tell us, that the Roman having asked him, who, in his opinion, was the greatest captain that had ever lived; he answered, Alexander the Great, because, with a handful of Macedonians, he had defeated numberless armies, and carried his conquests into countries so very remote, that it seemed scarce possible for any man only to travel so far. Being afterwards asked, to whom he gave the second rank; he answered, to Pyrrhus: Because this king was the first who understood the art of pitching a camp to advantage; no commander ever made a more judicious choice of his posts, was better skilled in drawing up his forces, or was more dexterous in winning the affection of foreign soldiers; insomuch that even the people of Italy were more desirous to have him [pg 256] for their governor, though a foreigner, than the Romans themselves, who had so long been settled in their country. Scipio proceeding, asked him next, whom he looked upon as the third: on which Hannibal made no scruple to assign that rank to himself. Here Scipio could not forbear laughing: “But what would you have said,” continued Scipio, “had you conquered me?” “I would,” replied Hannibal, “have ranked myself above Alexander, Pyrrhus, and all the generals the world ever produced.” Scipio was not insensible of so refined and delicate a flattery, which he no ways expected; and which, by giving him no rival, seemed to insinuate, that no captain was worthy of being put in comparison with him.
The answer, as told by Plutarch,[826] is less witty, and not so probable. In this author, Hannibal gives Pyrrhus the first place, Scipio the second, and himself the third.
Hannibal, sensible of the coldness with which Antiochus received him, ever since his conferences with Villius or Scipio, took no notice of it for some time, and seemed insensible of it.[827] But at last he thought it advisable to come to an explanation with the king, and to open his mind freely to him. “The hatred (says he) which I bear to the Romans, is known to the whole world. I bound myself to it by an oath, from my most tender infancy. It is this hatred that made me draw the sword against Rome during thirty-six years. It is that, which, even in times of peace, has caused me to be driven from my native country, and forced me to seek an asylum in your dominions. For ever guided and fired by the same passion, should my hopes be frustrated here, I will fly to every part of the globe, and rouse up all nations against the Romans. I hate them, and will hate them eternally; and know that they bear me no less animosity. So long as you shall continue in the resolution to take up arms against them, you may rank Hannibal in the number of your best friends. But if other counsels incline you to peace, I declare to you, once for all, address yourself to others for advice, and not to me.” Such a speech, which came from his heart, and expressed the greatest sincerity, struck the king, and seemed to remove all his suspicions; so that he now resolved to give Hannibal the command of part of his fleet.
But what havoc is not flattery capable of making in courts and in the minds of princes![828] Antiochus was told, “that it was imprudent in him to put so much confidence in Hannibal, an exile, a Carthaginian, whose fortune or genius might suggest to him, in one day, a thousand different projects: that besides, this very fame which Hannibal had acquired in war, and which he considered as his peculiar inheritance, was too great for a man who fought only under the ensigns of another: that none but the king ought to be the general and conductor of the war, and that it was incumbent on him to draw upon himself alone the eyes and attention of all men; whereas, should Hannibal be employed, he (a foreigner) would have the glory of all the successes ascribed to him.” “No minds,”[829] says Livy, on this occasion, “are more susceptible of envy, than those whose merit is below their birth and dignity; such persons always abhorring virtue and worth in others, for this reason alone, because they are strange and foreign to themselves.” This observation was fully verified on this occasion. Antiochus had been taken on his weak side; a low and sordid jealousy, which is the defect and characteristic of little minds, extinguished every generous sentiment in that monarch. Hannibal was now slighted and laid aside: however, he was greatly revenged on Antiochus, by the ill success this prince met with; and showed how unfortunate that king is whose soul is accessible to envy, and his ears open to the poisonous insinuation of flatterers.